Substation planned for bayfront power plant site

CHULA VISTA 
SDG&E is planning to build a new substation on about 12.4 acres of bayfront property about a quarter mile south of the existing South Bay Power Plant and substation that are set to be demolished by 2013.

The new substation is not specifically included in the Bayfront Master Plan set to come before the California Coastal Commission for approval in March. However, the location is zoned for industrial uses and is consistent with Chula Vista’s blueprint for development of the South County waterfront.

SDG&E officials said the agency that controls the state’s power grid has endorsed the project as necessary and cost effective.

“With the South Bay Power Plant no longer operating, the energy necessary to serve the South Bay area will have to come from more remote sources,” said San Diego Gas & Electric spokeswoman Jennifer Ramp. “In order to allow the energy to flow reliably and effectively to the South Bay area, it is necessary to connect SDG&E’s bulk power system (the 230kV lines that connect San Diego to the electric transmission grid in the rest of California.)”

City officials also noted that the substation won’t block water views in the way that the colossal South Bay Power Plant does, nor will the new facility impede economic development.

“It’s not really a big structure like the South Bay Power Plant, it’s a system of poles, cables, harnesses, and transformers,” said Senior Planner Mike Tapia, who has worked for the city for 20 years.

Also, substations serve different purposes than power plants — one is a power distributor while the other is a power generator, SDG&E and city officials said.

No production of energy will occur at the new location. Rather, the substation will take very high voltages and knock them down to lower voltages and distribute the energy to meet power needs.

Despite opposition from some nearby landowners and some environmental organizations, several council members said they tentatively support the project, which has been in the works since 2007.

“We’re wanting to get this current substation moved from where it’s at now, in a future recreational area, and down into the industrial area,” Assistant City Manager Gary Halbert said. The existing substation is adjacent to the power plant.

SDG&E now owns the land at the new site after a no-cost land swap with the San Diego Unified Port District for the location of the old substation. That deal was approved by the port in January 2010, and by the state Lands Commission in April 2010.

The planned substation would use about 9.7 acres of a 12.4 acre property, a little larger than the existing substation, which is on about 7.2 acres. The South Bay Power Plant sits on about 150 bayfront acres.